Premier’s passionate Nova Scotia video fuels pride and speculation

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston has released a viral video about the province.

A new video featuring Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston is generating some buzz online and drawing plenty of speculation over what it might mean for his political future.

The video, released on Houston’s X profile (formerly Twitter), was simply titled “My name is Tim, and I am Nova Scotian,” and has gained more than 1.2 million views. It was also shared thousands of times on Facebook.

In the video, Houston delivers a passionate speech celebrating Nova Scotia, describing the province as a place of pride and sharing what makes the province special

“It tells a story and the story is of what a great province this is,” said Houston. “And it’s time for all of us to be reminded of that and to be proud to be Nova Scotians.”

While the message has resonated with many viewers on social media, it’s also prompted speculation online that Houston may be positioning himself for a future in federal politics. But the premier insists that’s not the case.

“I’m focused on Nova Scotia and on what’s possible for this province,” said Houston.

The video’s patriotic tone, according to Houston, was inspired in part by the ongoing trade tensions with the United States and continued rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump regarding Canada’s future and the suggestion it should become the 51st state.

“We will never be the 51st of anything,” said Houston.

Canadian political expert and Dalhousie University professor Lori Turnbull says the video in part could be used as a marketing tool for Nova Scotia but notes it’s too much about Houston.

“I thought it was a really great promotional video for Nova Scotia,” said Turnbull. “But at the end (of the video) I realized this is a political thing and not a tourism thing.”

Houston made the speech four weeks ago during the final day of the spring sitting at the Nova Scotia Legislature. Opposition party leaders also delivered passionate speeches that focused on provincial pride.

The overall response has been positive and overwhelming, said Houston.

Many online are speculating the video shows Houston has political aspirations bigger than premier.

Turnbull understands why people would think that given the timing of the video’s release on Wednesday night, right after Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre held a rally in Trenton, N.S.

“You would have to know that by dropping a video like this on a day that Pierre Poilievre is visiting Nova Scotia, to hold one of his rallies, that it’s going to fuel nothing but speculation that you have eyes on his job,” said Turnbull.

While Houston denies the speculation, he has tried to distance himself from the federal Conservatives and Poilievre in the past by suggesting he’s not a member of the federal Conservative Party.

Houston has been spending a lot of time with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who Turnbull calls “a mentor” to Houston and says the decision to package the speech with a video is a move right out of the Doug Ford playbook.

“Doug Ford regularly puts out visions of what he thinks Ontario is and should be and he puts himself in the centre of that,” said Turnbull. “And then he pushes it back out to people. And it’s called Ford Nation.”

Houston and Ford recently signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at easing interprovincial trade between Nova Scotia and Ontario.

That’s part of the messaging Houston wants to deliver in the video, and although it includes no direct references to specific accomplishments around free trade, Houston was the first premier to pass legislation aimed at removing interprovincial trade barriers.

However, he admits progress beyond legislation has been slow.

“I’m for free trade, open free trade right across the country,” said Houston. “Let’s free trade amongst each other, no exceptions, no barriers. But there are others that aren’t quite there yet, who will tinker around the edges, but that’s not me.”

Houston is hopeful interprovincial trade barriers can come down by Canada Day.

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